As Friday’s election for Ohio Republican Party Chair quickly approaches, Jane Timken just scored a very impressive endorsement list of over 40 Ohio County GOP Chairs. The Chairmen want a change in leadership at the Ohio Republican Party.
Stark County Chairman Jeff Matthews emailed the announcement to the State Central Committee members whose votes will pick the next Chairman. Many local Ohio Republican leaders have lost confidence in Matt Borges as this list demonstrates.
An Open Letter to the Ohio Republican State Committee
We know that every member of the Republican State Central Committee has been inundated by emails and phone calls regarding the current race for Chairman of the Ohio Republican Party. We understand that this is an important decision that no member of the Committee takes lightly. As County Republican Chairmen, however, we are respectfully urging that our input be thoughtfully considered by the Committee in making a final decision on this most important matter.
We not only believe that the views and sentiments of County Republican Chairmen ought to be considered by the Committee on such important matters as the election of a State Chairman, but that the Committee and most certainly the State Chairman ought to be absolutely unwavering in their support of all Republican nominees, at every level.
Clearly, though, this was NOT the case in the instance of our 2016 Republican presidential nominee, Donald J. Trump. Consequently, we are now in jeopardy of having the State Party be completely at odds with the new Trump Administration, as well as with the RNC itself. This is, quite obviously, an untenable if not wholly unacceptable situation which only you, the voting members of the State Committee, have the power to resolve.
It is with all of this in mind that we, the undersigned, are urging you to unite the State Party behind Jane Timken as our next State Republican Chairman. She has impeccable personal qualifications and unquestioned standing among the political, financial and elective leadership of our Party at the state and national level. As a geographically diverse mix of County Republican Chairmen from large, medium and small counties, we respectfully ask for the State Committee’s support of Jane Timken in the secret balloting that will occur on January 6th.
Sincerely yours (in alphabetical order),
Carolyn Adams – Ottawa County GOP Chairman
Audra Bean – Champaign County GOP Chairman
Sandy Barber – Fulton County GOP Chairman
Keith Boales – Ashland County GOP Chairman
Chuck Calvert – Medina County GOP Chairman
Elayne Cross – Portage County GOP Vice Chairman
Paulette Donley – Highland County GOP Executive Committee Chairman Brian Davis – Williams County (Outgoing) GOP Chairman
Rob Duncan – Huron County GOP Chairman
Charlie Frye – Ashtabula County GOP Chairman
Leslie Haas – Washington County GOP Chairman
Robin Hovis – Holmes County GOP Chairman
Steve Hall – Coshocton County GOP ChairmanJon Hensler – Jackson County GOP Chairman
Helen Hurst – Lorain County GOP Chairman
Tim Inwood – Clinton County GOP Chairman
John Jones – Harrison County GOP Chairman David Johnson – Columbiana County GOP Chairman Steve Kryder – Henry County GOP Chairman Randy Law – Trumbull County GOP Chairman
Tom Liebrecht – Putnam County GOP Chairman Thad Lichtensteiger – Van Wert County GOP Chairman Jeff Matthews – Stark County GOP Chairman Nancy McArthur – Geauga County GOP Chairman Mark Munroe – Mahoning County GOP Chairman John “Bud” O’Brien – Miami County GOP Chairman Dan Osborne – Morrow County GOP Chairman
Patti Rockey – Williams County (Incoming) GOP Chairman Pere Seward – Monroe County GOP Chairman Lowell Shank – Former Henry County GOP Chairman Dean Sipe – Crawford County GOP Chairman Sherman Stansbery – Wyandot GOP Chairman Jason Stephens – Lawrence County GOP Vice Chairman Lynda Smith – Clark County GOP Chairman
Keith Threewits – Darke County GOP Chairman Dave Uible – Clermont County GOP Chairman
Doug Wills – Tuscarawus County GOP Chairman Bryan Williams – Summit County GOP Chairman Wayne York – Auglaize County GOP Chairman
Mike Young – Noble County GOP Chairman
Jerry Zielke – Paulding County GOP Chairman
This is a tough blow to current ORP Chair Matt Borges who only earned a total of four votes in the three county party endorsement meetings. All of those parties endorsed Jane Timken. Borges is also being challenged on his claim that Lt. Governor Mary Taylor endorsed him.
Jane Timken perviously earned the endorsement of Congressman Bob Gibbs. This was a significant blow to Borges who used to work for Gibbs in 2010.
